Carnival: How We Use Animals to Celebrate Ourselves

A raucous journey through eight animal festivals compels an environmental lawyer to ask what the stories we tell about animals reveal about our own humanity. As the gates open at the racetrack in Virginia City, Nevada, three camels stumble out, ridden by amateur jockeys. A crowd of roaring spectators looks on gleefully, but as the camels approach the first turn, one loses its footing and crashes to the ground. While the camel’s handlers rush to the animal, the race’s emcee calls out in defense of the jockey, “Check on Charlie! Forget the camel!” The International Camel and Ostrich Races is just one of hundreds of animal festivals that take place around the world every year, each putting animals on display for humans to gawk at, demonize, or adore. But why? What value do these festivals and their rituals hold, and why when the animals are in distress do we insist that the show still must go on? In Forget the Camel, Elizabeth MeLampy meets the groundhogs, butterflies, rattlesnakes, lobsters, sled dogs, and other creatures we use to build community, instill fear, and transmit meaning. She shows how killing rattlesnakes in Texas represents a triumph over the Wild West; how lobster boils on Maine’s Atlantic coast show solidarity with the working class; and how the celebration each February of a single groundhog reminds us of our reliance on nature. In the process, she uncovers the symbolism we attach to animals and the stories we tell to rise above them. Certain to be appreciated by fans of Yuval Noah Harari, Mary Roach, and Sy Montgomery, Forget the Camel is an immersive entry into the sights, smells, tastes, and noise of animal festivals across the country and a beautifully written step toward a compassionate future.